McLaren chief executive Zak Brown has fired a parting shot at former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, saying F1 is “a better place” without him.

Horner was axed last month off the back of Red Bull’s declining results on the track and two investigations into inappropriate behaviour last, year, which he was ultimately cleared of.

Brown and Horner pulled few punches on one another throughout their fierce rivalry.

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One of their biggest disputes was over Red Bull’s breach of the cost cap in 2021, when Max Verstappen won the first of his four straight driver’s championships but the team were later found guilty by the FIA of a “minor overspend” and deducted development time as a punishment.

A war of words also played out in the last year between the pair over allegations of technical regulations breaches.

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McLaren’s “flexi rear wing” drew the ire of Horner as it supposedly gives them an advantage on the straights, while allegations of putting water in their tyres to assist with cooling them were also made.

“It went too far. There’s always going to be politicking in F1 – let’s try and shut down their flexi-wings and that stuff, but when you start getting into frivolous allegations, that’s just going too far,” Brown said of Red Bull’s behaviour under Horner.

“If I look up and down pit lane now, I see us fighting each other hard politically, but the line is not being crossed, and that line got crossed before.

AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 22: Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner and McLaren Chief Executive Officer Zak Brown attend the Team Principals Press Conference prior to final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of USA at Circuit of The Americas on October 22, 2022 in Austin, Texas. Clive Mason/Getty Images/AFPSource: AFP

“I think that we’ll see a little bit of a change for the better. There’s a higher level of trust that now if we sit down and have a conversation on a topic where we think there could be some confidentiality, and it’s just not an automatic ‘I’m going to use that as a political weapon’.

“We’re going to be in a better place, a little bit more unified, and a little bit more trusting that while we’re fighting on track, we can have a conversation about what’s good for the sport off it. And that won’t get manipulated for political reasons and taken out of context.”

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The bad blood between Brown and Horner is not fabricated either despite being a key storyline throughout Netflix’s documentary series Drive to Survive.

In an interview with the Telegraph earlier this year, Brown admitted that there is “no love lost there”.

“I don’t like how he rolls and no doubt he feels the same about me. But I think it’s good for the sport,” he added.

“You need different characters. You need these rivalries. Some are friendly, sporting rivalries. Some are a bit more vicious. It’s always been like that.”

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With Horner gone, Brown expects the two teams to be more friendly.

Laurent Mekies has made the step up from Red Bull’s secondary team, Racing Bulls, to replace Horner, and Brown has welcomed the Frenchman being thrust into the rivalry.

“I’m happy Laurent’s in the role he is in,” Brown said.

“I like Laurent, that’ll be healthy, and maybe we can get back to focusing on competition on the track.

“There’s always going to be some political aspects to the sport, but I think it is going to be healthier with Laurent.

“I’m a fan of Laurent, I have known him for a long time, and it’ll be good to go racing against him.”